Airline Catering Services
Airline Catering Services
• produce meal portions served in the airline’s flights and passenger lounges as well as meal portions of foreign airlines
2 Major players before 911
• LSG Sky Chefs of Lufthansa
• Gate Gourmet of the SR Group
After 911
• In-flight meal service dropped drastically.
• Distribution of airline catering contracts among service providers became more widely spread.
PAL Catering Services
• 1978: Cruz administration built an In-flight Kitchen• Total operating cost is no higher than 3%• Categorized as a four-star airline when it comes to
catering• Before closure of PAL (’98): PAL was the biggest
caterer of foreign airlines in the country (30 client airlines)
• Today: 5 or 6 client airlines>other service providers:
MIASCORMacroAsia
Duties & Responsibilities of PAL Catering Services
• produce meal portions served in the airline’s flights and passenger lounges and meal portions of foreign airlines
• source materials and supplies necessary to support the approved menu
• deal with in-flight sales
• use and maintain catering trucks
Concerns of PAL Catering Services
• aging facilities
• modern trend: catering as an outsourced function
• keeping industrial peace within the airline
>physically-challenged individuals in its catering assembly lines
• pilferage and theft in the catering and in-flight sales storage
PAL’s options
• continue with its catering services
OR
• take on the new trend in the industry where catering has become one of the attractive candidate for spin-off (outsource)
sayaw
FLIGHT OPERATIONS
Cabin Services & Crew Scheduling
Flight Training
FLIGHT OPERATIONS
• organization of Flight Operations in most other airlines is simple and straightforward
• operation where aircraft assigned to the flight shall have given its appropriate checks
• airworthiness of the aircraft is assured
• aircraft is taxied out and airborne
Chief Pilot
• reports to the department head• each type of aircraft is normally put under
his care• see to it that pilots within his division are
kept proficient in their type of aircraft and the necessary licenses and recurrent trainings are up-to-date
• usually do check rides to observe pilots while in actual flight mission
QUALIFICATIONS OF ALL MEMBERS OF
A FLIGHT DECK CREW
• should pass strict training and qualification courses
• should have accumulated the experience that the positions required
• should be licensed by the ATO and by aviation authorities of the countries in w/c leased aircrafts are registered
AIR TRANSPORT RATING (ATR)
- required for captains
COMMERCIAL PILOT’S LICENSE (CPL)
- required for others
Licenses are issued or renewed only upon proof of competence and physical fitness.
Renewal is twice a year for ATR holders & once a year for CPL holders.
CABIN SERVICES & CREW SCHEDULING
Cabin Services
- handled by a complement of stewardesses and stewards
Cabin Crewmember
• a person trained and ready to act correctly and promptly in any emergency
• undergoes recurrent training at least once a year• must demonstrate competence in first aid,
lifesaving techniques and survival swimming each time
• required to qualify in classroom session and in-flight duty on aircraft type they would be reassigned to
Domestic Crewmember
- qualified in all domestic aircrafts
International Crewmember
- qualified in all international aircrafts
7 Major Functional Areas in the Cycle of Cabin Services
• Planning
• Clearing
• Dispatch
• Transportation
• Monitoring
• Budget/Logistics
• Cashier/Accounting
CREW SCHEDULING
Manual Scheduling
- very complicated process and complexity results to rising of malpractices in many airlines today
CARMEN Crew Scheduling System
- supposed to be a complete system and definitely much more comprehensive and technically advanced than Selective Bidding System (SBS)
FLIGHT TRAINING
Simulators
- replicas of the aircraft flight decks w/c accurately recreate the motions and even the sounds of aircraft in flight
Timeline
• 1920’s – concept of a simulator is introduced
• 1927 & 1929- Ed Link paved the way by inventing the Link Trainer
• 1951- FlightSafety was established when electronic simulation was relentlessly pursued w/ the use of analogue computers
• 1960’s – advent of digital computers and use of hydraulics for motion simulation to be perfected
• - GE developed the 1st image generation system that completed the concept of today’s simulator
• 2001-PC-based system called SimFinity was developed
Link Trainer
- basic aircraft mechanically activated w/ the use of pneumatic machine similar to the one in the piano and organ business but crude and far from real motion simulator
Maintenance/Flight Training Device (M/FTD)
- the invention means that monitoring aspects of maintenance and engineering of the aircraft can be done on the ground at the nearest simulation site of the airline
Cockpit Resource Management
Cockpit Resource Management (CRM)
- the effective utilization of all available resources, information, equipment and human ability to achieve a safe and efficient flight operation.
Cause of aircraft accidents:
BEFORE: unreliability of the flying machines
TODAY: 75% traced to human errors
“At least 77 accidents have been classified with CRM factors as primary or contributing cause.”
-Sams, 1987
Early Stage of CRM
1. dismissed as a scheme to benefit some psychotherapists
2. just a passing phase in the training of pilots
Cockpit Voice recorders (CVR)
-used to record apparent clashes between pilots.
Line-Oriented Flight Training
- video feedbacks allows pilots to review and assess their behavior along with overall crew effectiveness.
THE CAPTAIN
a manager and custodian of authority
the ultimate decision-maker on an aircraft
delegates authority
“The best captains are the most well-liked because the rest of the crew works hard to please him and to feel as though they have let the captain down personally if they make a mistake.”
-Sams, 1987
TEAMWORK
Team – a group pf people working together to achieve a common goal.
“When an accident does occur, more often than not, it s because team coordination deteriorated.”
-Reingold, 1989
“It is the team not the aircraft that is the root of most accidents.”
-Hackman, 1993
Factors that Differentiate Outstanding Crews:
1. The development of team skills
2. selection practices
“54% of the pilots said that the major factor in crew management problems was the unacceptable behavior of the other pilots.”
“Nearly 40% of the copilots said they have on several occasions failed to communicate with the captain their doubts about operations of the aircraft because of a desire to avoid conflict.”
-Wheale, 1983
The Importance of CRM:
x The 747 collision at Tenerlife when a KLM 747 tried to take off from a foggy runway occupied by a taxing Pan Am 747.
x Crashing of Delta Airlines flight 1141 shortly after take off from runway 18L at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport.
Evergreen’s Boeing 747 freighter took off from Anchorage International Airport.
BEFORE CRM:
The pilot covers up his mistake.
AFTER CRM:
The pilot discloses his mistake.
PSYCHOLOGICAL IMPACT:
“Having a light and relieved feeling at having unburdened and purged out the guilt!”
MAINTENANCE AND ENGINEERING
(M&E) DEPARTMENT
(M&E) DEPARTMENT
• PAL spends more than 1 billion annually for
the upkeep of its aircraft to ensure flight
safety
• M&E was the largest with 2,600 men and
women in its ranks
FOUR FUNCTIONS
Maintenance
• handles the fleet at the line to make sure they are
positioned, properly serviced and ready for their
assigned flights, both domestically and internationally
• comprised of aircraft, aircraft interior, engine,
electronics, accessories and parts overhaul
FOUR FUNCTIONS
Administrative
• production control, guarantee and warranty
management and maintenance contract
evaluation; handling and supervision
FOUR FUNCTIONS
Engineering
• delves on the establishment, maintenance and updating of
manuals, procedures, technical documents, methodologies,
technical training and exercises control functions such as
planning and controlling the aircraft maintenance schedules
and operating the online and automated system
FOUR FUNCTIONS
Quality Control
• perform aircraft and shop inspections and
maintain a quality assurance program and
maintenance of all sensitive records
MAINTAINING THE FLEET
• all parts of an airplane, from the airframe and
engines to tiny switches, have specific periods
of service between overhauls during which
they must be inspected and repaired or
replaced if necessary.
MAINTAINING THE FLEET
• civil air regulations and manufacturer
manuals make all such inspections, checks
and overhauls mandatory
MAINTAINING THE FLEET
• like pilots, mechanics are required by
authorities to undergo training before regular
employment and must pass recurrent trainings
periodically. They are also licensed by ATO.
CERTIFICATE OF CERTIFICATE OF AIRWORTHINESSAIRWORTHINESS
• each aircraft carries these, issued by the civil aviation authorities
of the countries in which the aircraft is registered
• renewed only upon finding that the operator has satisfactorily
complied with all of the maintenance and safety requirements for
the aircraft. Otherwise, the certificate is withdrawn and the aircraft
is grounded
BASIC AIRLINE M&E BASIC AIRLINE M&E OPERATION FUNCTIONOPERATION FUNCTION
Operation Group
Maintenance and Engineering
Shop Services
Aircraft Maintenance
Engineering & Technical
Quality Control
OPERATIONS OPERATIONS CONTROL CENTERCONTROL CENTER
• nerve center of all airlines’ line operations
• the ‘cockpit to an aircraft’ where the total activity
within the aircraft and communications with outside
world is coordinated and controlled
OPERATIONS OPERATIONS CONTROL CENTERCONTROL CENTER• all line units have direct communications with OCC 24 hours a
day. All the domestic and international stations are also linked
with OCC (e.g. via satellite communications for aircraft in flight,
hotlines for ground offices, online communications through web
and commercial telecommunications)
OPERATIONS OPERATIONS CONTROL CENTERCONTROL CENTER
• provides flight plans for the flights
• monitors the progress of each flight
(Fleet Watch)
OPERATIONS OPERATIONS CONTROL CENTERCONTROL CENTER
• very difficult but always full of excitement (from
bomb threats, hijackings, airport closure due to
arrival or departure of heads of states, an aircraft
being stuck on the runway and many other causes)